A Lawndale woman and a Hawthorne friend were charged Monday with trying to hire a hit man to kill a man dating the woman's daughter for $6,500, federal prosecutors said.

Adelina Cristobal, 45, and Antonio Quevedo, 34, did not know that the man they met to arrange the deal was actually an undercover police officer, according to an affidavit unsealed in federal court.

"The quick work of ATF and LAPD potentially saved the life of the targeted victim to whom they wished to murder," Steven Bogdalek, special agent in charge of the Los Angeles office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said in a statement.

According to the affidavit, an informant called detectives on Jan. 22 to say Quevedo had asked if he or someone he knew would be willing to commit a murder-for-hire for $5,000. Quevedo said he would introduce the informant to Cristobal.

On Thursday, with police watching and recording, Quevedo introduced the informant and an undercover officer posing as the hit man to Cristobal in the parking lot of Mar de Oro on Hawthorne Boulevard in Lawndale. Cristobal's daughter worked at the restaurant.

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Cristobal identified the intended victim as the nephew of her husband, Carlos Hernandez.

"Cristobal said that she wanted the victim killed because the victim owed her money, the victim was romantically involved with her daughter, and that the victim had threatened Hernandez, causing Hernandez to have a minor stroke, resulting in hospitalization," the affidavit said.

Cristobal, who provided the victim's description, said Hernandez was going to provide the money for the hit, the document said.

After receiving the details, the undercover officer asked Cristobal, "Do you want it quick or do you want me to do it slow?" and asked if she wanted the victim to know she had ordered the hit. Cristobal said "yes" and asked him to tell the victim, "This is so you remember not to get involved with my daughter and me," the document said.

As they continued to discuss the deal, Cristobal first said she would pay $4,000 but agreed to pay $6,500 following a negotiation. Cristobal told the undercover officer she wanted photographic proof that the killing was done. Cristobal texted her husband and said she needed $500 for a deposit, authorities said.

Following her arrest, Cristobal told investigators she indeed intended to target the victim because of his relationship with her daughter, but claimed she only meant to have him beaten up, the affidavit said.

Quevedo and Cristobal were charged with using interstate commerce equipment - cellphones - for the murder-for-hire plan. They did not enter pleas at their first appearance Monday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, authorities said.